High school track and field: MA's Gerard poised to bring home medals from state

8:00 a.m. EST, May 4, 2012|Kym Klass, Montgomery Advertiser

Taylor Gerard has high hopes.

The sophomore from Montgomery Academy has dominated girls distance running in the area this past year, placing in the top two within the state in almost every race in which she has competed. And as she steps onto the track at the AHSAA 3A state track and field meet at Memorial Stadium in Selma today, her focus is two-fold: win the mile, and be part of a championship 3,200 relay team.

At the state meet on Saturday, she wants to win the 800 meters -- her best event. She also runs the 3,200 meters that day, and while it is far from her favorite event, she is seeded first.

"It's very clear that she's going to score in the event, and should medal, if not win," her coach Kevin Weatherill said of the 3,200 meters.

Gerard is new to Montgomery Academy this year, having arrived from Highland Ranch, Colo., in August. This past week, she won three individual events at the AHSAA 3A, Section 1 meet -- the 800 in 2:24; the 1,600 in 5:24; and the 3,200 in 11:59. The times are seconds slower than her personal bests, but the goal at sectionals was to score points, and win.

And for Gerard, to beat T.R. Miller's Karisa Nelson, who defeated Gerard at the AHSAA 3A cross country state championships this past fall with a winning time of 18:20.07 to Gerard's second-place finish of 19:16.93.

At sectionals last week, she trailed behind Nelson in the mile, but caught her, winning the race in 5:24.37. Nelson finished second in 5:24.49.

"It felt good," she said of beating Nelson, a sophomore. Beating her "helped, because she beat me really bad in cross country."

To improve this much to overtake her, Gerard credits speed workouts -- a lot of 200- and 400-meter intervals and tempo runs. And she also is stronger because of her "med ball" workouts, and from time in the weight room.

Of all three events, the 800 is her strongest. Her PR is a 2:20.

Asked whether she will break it, Weatherill said: "I'd like to say she will do that, but she will have to do it herself. I'm not as interested in setting PRs at the state meet as other people are. If we do, great. But for someone like that, it's about trying to win the race. We'll put her in a position to win a race. Her primary objective in a race is to score as many points as she can for us. And sometimes that means conserving energy.

"She had her chances to PR."

Gerard ran a personal best in the 1,600 this year with a time of 5:16. Her previous best was a 5:19 in Highland Ridge. How much difference is a few seconds in a mile?

"Big," she said. "You have to take a second off each lap, and that's easier said than done."

Following the mile race this morning, Gerard will have a few hours to rest before she and teammates Krisie Stakely, Emily Pierce and Drake Mcgowin run the 3,200 relay. Their time for the event is 10:16. The state record is 10:10. Collectively, with the PRs of the girls' times added together, they could run just under that record.

"It's an event we've traditionally done well in," Weatherill said. "In the past couple of years, we've been just short of winning. And they sense -- we're clearly the favorite going in. Even if they don't run 10:10, the next best team is 25 seconds off."

On Saturday, things become refocused for Gerard with the 3,200 meters in the morning and the 800 at the end of the day. At the mention of the 800, the soft-spoken Gerard lights up.

"I really hope to win that one," she said. "It is just intense. It's fast. You want to be in the pack, and not lose them, stay with them, and the last lap is just all out."

"Katherine's the one I don't think anybody really talks about or factors, but she's the only other person that has run under 12 minutes this year," Weatherill said. "At the state meet, Saturday morning could be really hot and not go particularly fast, and if it doesn't, there are three people who could win. And you can't discredit (Nelson), who won last year."

Ask Gerard what goes through her mind when she runs, and the answer might be surprising: often, she spells words and does math problems. It takes the focus off the pain. Math problems are random, mostly. Words? Try this one: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

"I got that one," she said quietly.

To really push through at this high level of competition, though, Gerard thinks of the end of the race.

"I try to think of how I'd feel after the race if I didn't try my hardest," she said. "If you don't do your hardest, you keep thinking back on the race, telling yourself you could have done it, but you didn't."